Microsoft Bounty Boosts for Top Talent

Topics: Comp Strategy, Growth, Retention

Tech Talent Wars: Boost to Microsoft Bounty for Top Workers By Staff Writer It’s time to play compensation hardball in the IT industry. Last year, Google announced a 10 percent raise for all of its employees. Amazon is aggressively seeking out and snapping up the best technical talent. And, now, Microsoft is bringing out it’s A-game and offering top pay to top talent.

April 26, 2011

It’s time to play compensation hardball in the IT industry. Last year, Google announced a 10 percent raise for all of its employees. Amazon is aggressively seeking out and snapping up the best technical talent. And, now, Microsoft is bringing out it’s A-game and offering top pay to top talent.

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Formerly envied for their stellar stock options, Microsoft employees have seen a flat line, instead of an upward curve, for their company stock price over the past ten years. And, it seems that coming out of the recession, technology companies are leading the charge of improved profits. Amazon, Inc. as seen impressive growth in the last few years.

So, what is a technological mega-force to do to win the talent war? Pay more cash, now. A story in The Seattle Times covered the announcement made by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that the company is redefining its employee review process and increasing the amount of money with which employees can be rewarded for excellent work. He’s quoted as saying, “These changes represent the most significant investment in overall compensation we have ever made.”

Microsoft is using fresh talent management strategies and compensation planning tweaks to get what it needs. HR strategy is the foundation of their tactic.

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Ballmer went on to state, “We are competitive both with our products and in the way we attract and retain talent. For me, the most important factor is competition for talent, because I know our success comes from the people who work here.” It sounds like Mr. Ballmer has been reading Compensation Today.

Want to read more about talent management and compensation planning? Below are some blog post from Compensation Today that cover how you can make decisions like Microsoft’s once the competition for talent in your industry gets hotter.